Qantas 747 Dumps Fuel and Returns to Sydney

A Qantas Airways Boeing 747-400 enroute to Buenos Aires has dumped fuel and returned to Sydney.
This news is published before any other media – in order to reduce the spreading of false information as much as possible.
The reason for return is not yet clear. The aircraft safely landed in Sydney, with 199 passengers onboard.
A fuel dump and safe return is a very normal occurence in day to day aviation operations, and need not be considered a safety threat.

The aircraft, VH-OEI, operated as QF17 SYD-EZE and was powered by General Electric CF-6 engines. The aircraft was built in May 2003 and entered into service with Qantas in June 2003. It is the 1330th Boeing 747 built.

UPDATE:
Qantas has issued an statement on the incident.
“QANTAS STATEMENT ON QF17 SYDNEY, 15 November 2010: Qantas Flight 17 from Sydney to Buenos Aires today, operated by a Boeing 747, returned to Sydney after experiencing an issue with the aircraft ’ s electrical system. The aircraft departed at 11:11am and landed safely back at Sydney Airport at 1:22pm. Priority clearance to land was gained from air traffic control, following procedure. There were 199 passengers, three flight crew and 18 cabin crew on board. Engineers are inspecting the aircraft to determine the cause of the issue. Passengers have disembarked into the terminal building. Reports that the aircraft had lost pressure in the main cabin are incorrect. Oxygen supply to the cabin was unaffected. The incident has been reported to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Air Transport Safety Bureau. The flight crew operating the service acted appropriately in line with their training and with Qantas ’ safety-first approach. Qantas regrets the inconvenience to passengers and will seek to make contingency arrangements for those affected. Further details will be released as they become available.”

Passengers will be accommodated on another ( special ) flight, planned to depart at 1700.